B.B. King is set to open a public museum to commemorate his life and career in the music industry.

The B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center, scheduled to open on 13 September (08), is located in Indianola, Mississippi - the same town where King worked picking cotton as a boy. And the blues legend, 82, insists he is honoured to see the museum launched during his lifetime.

He says, "I bought some land and was going to build me a house on it with the idea it could open as a museum after my demise. But some people said, 'Why wait until you die? If you open the museum now, you could see it.' I liked that idea."

And he reveals that the majority of the memorabilia housed at the attraction is from his personal collection. He adds: "Like a fool, I let 'em come to my house and I said, 'Anything you want, you get it.' Well, they took damn near everything! But I'm glad to share everything and hope the museum will be good for the area." (PAW/WNTEX/CL)

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